“That’s when I first started playing trop rock,” Middlebrook said.

Middlebrook, who returned to East Lansing this week to promote his new album, said he was happy to be back in the town that gave him many memories.

Middlebrook said his music has been featured in Showtime movies and on the Discovery Channel. He also said he has opened for popular musicians including Reba McEntire, The Doobie Brothers, Jefferson Starship, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Meat Loaf.

“I used to think when I was a kid that (Meat Loaf) was so big, 6’8”, like the Hulk,” Middlebrook said. “He’s really not that big of a guy. He passed out one night and I picked him up. I remember commenting, ‘You’re not really like a meatloaf, you’re more like a mini-loaf’ — he didn’t like that.”

With a multitude of albums under his belt, Middlebrook said he aimed to draw a bridge between Key West, Fla., and Michigan in his most recent album “The Key West Connection.”

The new island-influenced album, released late September, is one Middlebrook said has a special purpose — to raise money for the Key West High School band.

Featured on Middlebrook’s new album is the Key West High School band and choir, The Motor City Horns, a lyrical collaboration with granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway Lorian Hemingway and cover art by Florida artist Wyland.

“The Hemingway family had a lot of homes in northern Michigan. … The artist Wyland is from Royal Oak and is a U-M alum,” Middlebrook said. “So a lot of the people in Key West working on this album had Michigan connections. That’s how the music became the bridge between Michigan and Key West.”

Middlebrook said he studied social psychology at MSU and originally wanted a career as a counselor or teacher, but found he loved music more.

“Then I found the guitar and never looked back,” Middlebrook said. “To look back at when I was in school (at MSU), I never saw myself being here and I always wonder how long it will go.”